According to broader Thai society, no. A survey last month by the Ipsos
Asia-Pacific polling firm confirmed what most already know: 9 in 10 Thais
kingdom-wide oppose eating dogs, regard the dog trade as cruel and believe
it should be stopped.

But Nakhon Phanom province, tucked into a bend of the Mekong River in
Thailand’s northeast, is nearer to Vietnam than Bangkok. And so are some of
its mores.

Vietnamese have fled here since French invasion began in the 1860s. This
is where Ho Chi Minh planned a resistance in the 1920s, where U.S.-built
airbases flew into Northern Vietnam in the 1960s and where, until the 1970s,
Vietnamese-backed Lao guerillas were creeping across the Mekong.

Even today, the influence is seen on street signs displayed in Vietnamese
script and men farming rice in conical straw hats. To the dismay of
Bangkok-based animal welfare groups, the Vietnamese also brought with them a
tolerance for dog eaters.

“It’s not like we’re the ones eating it. It’s all exported to Vietnam,”
says Wuthgrai Thongantang, a local FM radio disc jockey. “The collectors
here, they can’t quit because it’s just too lucrative. They could go be
merchants or rice farmers, but it doesn’t even compare.”

“We’re all Thai now,” he says, “but this is has been passed down through
ancestors.”

But animal rights groups say the entire country is shamed by the trade’s
barbarism.

Collectors sometimes subdue angry dogs by knocking them senseless with
sticks. Traffickers cram dogs 10-deep into cages, seldom feeding them during
long trips to Vietnam.

After the shipment arrives in Vietnam, butchers will often crack live
dogs over the head to charge their blood with adrenaline. Some diners
believe dogs killed while frightened offer health benefits, such as a
super-charged libido.

“Why should Thai people be involved in a trade like this?” asks Roger
Lohanan, chairman of the Bangkok-based Thai Animal Guardians Association.
“This is a food for teenagers and drunks.”

“If we want to be civilized, food such as dog, cat, monkey should be out
of our menu,” says Lohanan, who is half-Thai. “Not because it’s the Western
way. Because it’s the right thing to do.”

For years, Lohanan’s group and others have lobbied police and parliament
for crackdowns on dog syndicates. They have had little sway — and Blackie
and Brownie are part of the reason why. Both were seized in an at-large
police raid six years ago that seized 502 dogs.

Though that amounts to only half of the region’s nightly export, the
captured animals strained shelters to the max. Because Buddhist-inclined
shelters typically view euthanasia as a last resort, taking in dogs is a
long-term commitment. The daily dog food costs alone can total more than
$300 per day — decent pay for a month’s work in northeast Thailand.

“The court realizes crackdowns are a burden on everyone,” says one
shelter authority. He requested anonymity after higher-ups reprimanded him
for exposing dog meat syndicates to the Thai press. “I’d like to do patrols
and checkpoints, but we don’t have the budget for it. Even if we did go out,
villagers would just tip off the dog bosses that we’re coming.”

But while many in the region are sympathetic to the trade, consumption of
dog meat remains taboo. The Ipsos poll found that, of the 1 in 10 Thais who
admit to eating dog, 72 percent said eat it only three times per year or
less.

Those with naughty curiosity are driven to semi-secret, no-name eateries.

Tassanee Hemha’s place is more hang-out than restaurant, a place where
customers drink rice whiskey and eat dog ribs in the front yard. Her most
expensive dish is the “large set” — $3 worth of thighs, ribs and other
choice cuts.

“Most of my customers are teenagers and college students,” says the
48-year-old mom. “I get Vietnamese on holiday too. We communicate by
pointing.”

After Tassanee arranges a few cuts over a wire grill and lights the
charcoal beneath, the pinkness drains from each strip of meat. Soon, grease
spits and hisses on the coals. The unvaccinated dog is only served once
cinders fleck the skin.

The strips are then sliced up, tucked inside a pinch of leafy greens and
dipped into a mild chili sauce. Raw chilies are nibbled for an added blast
of heat.

But none of this entices the chef, whose nose crinkles slightly at the
thought of eating dog. She will occasionally taste her cooking to gauge its
flavor, she says, but that's it.

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